This invention relates to wall storage systems and, more particularly, to wall storage systems that are adjustable to accommodate and store loads having various shapes, sizes and weights.
Wall storage units have included horizontal bars or rails on which are mounted brackets or hooks for supporting various items. Many of these units have hooks permanently attached to specified points on a bar. While this type of system provides good stability, it limits the types of devices that can be stored. Other storage systems permit brackets captured on a rail to be slid therealong. While this provides additional flexibility, it is advantageous to permit the number of slidable brackets to be changed after the rail has been mounted on the wall, thus accommodating the largest number of different devices.
The most common wall storage unit which allows for the changing of slidable brackets after the rail is installed has an open-ended fastener at the back of the bracket, which fastener is merely slipped over the top of the rail. An example of such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,260,489 to Hentzi. While the Hentzi type of wall storage unit has great flexibility, it is less stable than other units. In particular, the brackets are easily dislodged by an upward motion, such as might occur when a device is removed from the bracket. Also, the brackets tend to wobble in the horizontal plane unless special provisions are made. These provisions increase the material cost and labor involved in manufacturing the system.
Wall storage systems illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,291,966 to Joseph and U.S. Pat. No. 2,546,720 to Brothers overcome some of the problems of the open fastener type bracket. These systems employ brackets with fasteners that are essentially trapped on the rail, but which can be added or removed from the rail by putting the bracket under sufficient stress to pry open the fastener. If the fastener material has the proper amount of resilience, the fastener will snap to its closed position once the bracket is located on the rail. In order to add or remove the brackets without special tools, the fastener sections of the brackets must, however, have substantial resilience. In these circumstances, the bracket may not be as strong as is desirable to support heavy loads, such as power lawn mowers. Therefore, it would be useful to have a wall storage unit with brackets that can be added or removed from a mounting rail attached to a wall and that can be slid along the rail to a desired position, while still having the same strength and stability as brackets that are secured to the rail.